Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2017

gjy664 – Chinggis Khan and the Mongol Empire

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Introduction

The Mongol Empire was one of the largest contiguous land empires in history, which grew under Chinggis Khan’s leadership in the 13 th and 14 th Centuries. At its height, it stretched from the Pacific to the Mediterranean. 1 However, the Mongol’s feat is somewhat obscured by a focus

on other great empires, such as the Roman Empire. The fundamental factors in Chinggis

Khan’s success were organisation, discipline, mobility, ruthlessness, terror, weaponry and psychological warfare. 2 These factors were all shaped by Chinggis Khan’s visionary leadership and the existence of politically weakened states across central Asia. 3 Consequently, Chinggis Khan is renowned as the first great leader of the Mongol Empire. 4 According to a range of primary sources, Chinggis skilfully manipulated society to achieve his goal of “tribal supremacy”. 5 This traditional historical view maintains that Chinggis Khan’s rise to power precipitated the expansion of the Mongol Empire. Also, that the military success was due to the “warriorist culture that esteemed heroes”. 6

The historiographical problem with this account is that Chinggis Khan’s role in the Mongol

Empire’s expansion is tainted by substantial myth-making and fragmentary ‘hard’ evidence.

The historical controversy is on the extent to which the empire’s expansion was due to Chinggis

Khan or other factors. Contemporary Mongol and European accounts provide different

perspectives on Chinggis’ role and other casual factors. A typical European perspective, such as presented in Ystoria Mongalorum by John of Plano Carpini, writing in the mid-13 th Century, emphasises the role of Chinggis’ military skills and barbaric savagery. 7 Whereas, Mongol perspectives, as represented in the Secret History of the Mongols , refer to Chinggis’ qualities and skills in leadership, flexibility and organisation as key factors. 8 Thus, it is important to

determine the casual factors of the Mongol Empire’s rise and evaluate the differences regarding

Chinggis Khan’s role in both European and Mongol accounts.

1 “Review of Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World ,” Timothy May, H-Net Reviews , last modified March 2005, http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=10378 2 “Genghis Khan Mongol Ruler,” Charles R Bawden, Encyclopaedia Britannica , last modified April 2017, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Genghis-Khan 3 “The Legacy of Genghis Khan,” Stefano Carboni and Adamjee Qamar, The Metropolitan Museum of Art , last modified October 2003, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/khan1/hd_khan1.htm 4 Easton et al, Oxford Big Ideas Humanities 8 Victorian Curriculum (Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia, 2016), 423-455. 5 Igor De Rachewiltz, The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century (Canberra: The Australian National University, 2015). 6 Joseph Fletcher, “The Mongols: Ecological and Social Perspectives,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 46, 1 (1986): 11- 50. 7 Stephen Bennett, “The Report of Friar John of Plano Carpini: Analysis of an Intelligence Gathering Mission Conducted on Behalf of the Papacy in the Mid Thirteenth Century,” History Studies: University of Limerick History Society Journal (2011). 8 Urgunge Onon (trans.), The Secret History of the Mongols (Abingdon: RoutledgeCurzon Press, 2001).